Means for steaming box-toes.



W. W. REED.

WIEANS FOR STEAMING BOX TOES.

. APPLlcfmoN FILED lum/9.1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Patented June 20, 1916.

INENT 4 /f ORNEYS.

' WITNESS W.l W. REED.-

.MEANS FOR STEAMING BOX TOES.VV

APPUCATION FILED JULY 9| 1915.

Patented June 20, 1916;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESS nvr/EN TOR,

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WALTER W. REED, OF ROCKLAND, MASSACHUSETTS.

MEANS FOR STEAMING BOX-TOES.

mamar Application filed July 9, 1915.

To all whom i may concern:

Be it known that I, VALTER W. REED, a citizen of the United` States, residing at Rockland, in the county of Plymouth, in the State of Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Means for Steaming Box-Toes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

In the manufacture of shoes, and the like footwear, in the operation of conforming the leather toe blank from the fiat to the box shape, it is the common practice to steam the said blank in order to soften it to some extent, and then to pull the said blank over the last and tack the edge portions of the blank in order to retain the saine in its conformed condition. In thus steaming the blank the finished outer surface of the leather is softened and dulled objectionably, and it frequently becomes necessary to refinish the said outer surface after the shoe 'is otherwise complete.

In my new method of and means for conforming the box toe blank, the finished sur face of the leather is not required to be steamed and softened yetthe operation is performed as expeditiously and cheaply as by the methods now in use.

In order to explain my invention clearly I have provided the annexed drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a hot water, or steam distributing system whereby a plurality of pulling over, and toe-steaming devices of my present improved type, may be conveniently operated. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the toe steaming device which forms the chief feature of the present invention, and Fig. 3 is a. central, vertical, sectional view of the same. Fig. i is a transverse sectional view of the said toesteaining device taken at the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the discharge throat of said steaming device. In Fig. 6 I have shown an elevation of the steaming device having mounted thereon a shoe support, with a shoe in proper position for the steaming of the box-toe blank and in Fig. 7 the upper end portion of the steaming device is illustrated in vertical section. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a steam-box by means of which the under side of the box toe blank may receive a preliminary softening before it is mounted on the last and pulled over at its side portions.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 2U, 1916.

serial No. 38,968.

My present invention relates more particu larly to the novel device for steaming the under side of the box toe blank after the sides of the latter have been pulled over and tacked but, in order to explain said present improvement understandingly, I have illustrated a novel system of which the said steaming device is a feature.

I'n the Fig. l the numeral 20 indicates a main distributing pipe leading from a steam, or hot water, tank 2l, the pipe 20 bein g provided with a plurality of branch pipes, here shown as four in number and indicated by the numerals 22, 23, 24 and 25. Any desired number of branch pipes may however, be provided, it being my intention to mount upon certain of the said branch pipes several of the steam boxes shown in Fig. 8, and upon certain other branch pipes my special form of toe steaming devices; the steam boxes being located preferably ad jacent to pulling-over machines.

As stated above, the toe blanks may be iirst softened to some extent by placing them in steain boxes such as the'box 26 shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings and which I will describe inore specifically hereinafter. The toe blank is then placed in position on the last and is pulled over and tacked down at its side portions. The shoe is then placed on a support, of the type shown at 27 in Fig. 6, the free front edge portion of the toe blank being then so positioned that it is immediately over the curved throat portion 28; the arrangement of throat and toe blank being such that a jet of steam or vapor discharged from said throat will impinge against the under side of the said blank and soften. the same at precisely the point or part which must be pulled over to form the curved front portion of the box. The blank is thus steamed and rendered suiiciently pliable without unduly steaming the outer, finished, surface of the leather.

My said steaming device consists essentially of a cylindrical body portion 29, which is mounted on one of the branch pipes 24 or 25, and a removable top section 30 which terminates in the curved throat 28 already referred to. The top section 30 is planned to fit into the upper end of the body portion 29 and is formed with a radial projection 30a which is adapted to interlock with a correspondingly shaped socket 29tt in the body 29 thus providing a bayonet lock-joint whereby the top section 8() may be'readily attached to or removed -from the body section. Inthe event that Water is introduced into the body 29, through the branch pipe, instead of steam, the Water may be heated to the desired degree by means of an electrically heated resistance coil located in a central'chamber 3l in the lower portionv of the body 29 but as such resistance coil forms no part of my present invention I have considered it unnecessary to illustrate it.

By preference the extreme opposite end portions of the throat 28 areslightly enlarged and flared, as seen at 28:L in Fig. 5 of the drawings, so that a part of the steam, as it leaves the throat, Will be discharged Y along the inner sides of the toe blank as Well may not be used. It includes a housing f VWhose bottom is adapted to receive the dis- Copies' o( this Y.patent niay lie obtained for charge of steam orWater, as the case may be, from the branch pipe upon which the housing isv mounted. Within' the said housing is a grid upon which the boX toe blanks may be laid for steaming and adjacent to the said grid are slitted openings 36 through which the blanks may be inserted and removed. By preference the housing is provided at its upper portion with an opening 37 through which the steam' or vapor may escape as it passes upward from the grid.

My described toe steaming device is of such construction that it may be conveniently used and it effectually overcomes, or rather renders unnecessary, the objectionable softening and defacing of the finished "outer surface of the toe cap which results from the present system of boX toe making.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent A box-toe steaming device, including a throat portion constructed and arranged to fit the toe portion of a shoe and having a discharge opening with its Walls curved inwardly at their forward edges along parallel arcuate lines, said Walls being laterally flared at the ends to provide for the delivery of the steam or vapor leaving the throat portion along the inner sides of the toe blank and the curved front end portion of said toe blank.

WALTER W. REED.

iive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

